After the Dinner Party – Step-by-Step

After the Dinner Party. Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30. Kit Miracle this is the final version of the painting. I’ve tweaked a few things. I didn’t like the shape of the wine bottle, added a few more highlights here and there. The whole idea with this type of impressionism is that the brush strokes are clear and bold. Your eyes will fill in the rest. I think this makes a much livelier painting than if I had meticulously smoothly brushed all of the shapes.

This painting is one of about a dozen in my Intimate Space: Breaking Bread series.  The idea is to view people in various activities of breaking bread together.  Eating, sharing meals, etc.  Some of the paintings in the series feature several figures while a few only feature one lone person. 

For this piece, I was drawn to the idea of after the guests have left.  Thus, After the Dinner Party.  The dishes have been cleared.  The wine is nearly gone.  The dessert bowls are empty and a half of a pie remains.  The late afternoon light catches the detritus left after the meal.

All of the paintings in this series are on the same size canvas, a gallery-wrapped two inch deep, 24 x 30 inches.  I have double gessoed the canvasses leaving a texture, then primed them with a greyish/green color. 

Each painting begins with a drawing on the canvas, then outlined in various bright colors.  The style is contemporary impressionism with a little dash of Cezanne or Matisse.  Large brush strokes in bold colors make up most of the painting.

After the Dinner Party, step 1. Here you see the canvas toned with greyish/green. On the pencil drawing, I have outlined the main shapes in primary colors.
After the Dinner Party, step 2. Here I have begun to block in the larger shapes. I usually start with the background but not always.
After the Dinner Party, step 3. The font (shadow side) of the table is added along with the shadows of most of the main objects.
After the Dinner Party, step 4. Adding more colors, and some highlights. I don’t concern myself with covering up the colorful outlines but they peek through in places, enough to add some pizzazz.
After the Dinner Party, step 5. Starting to paint in the remainder of the objects – blue dishes, glasses, bottles.
After the Dinner Party. Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30. Kit Miracle this is the final version of the painting. I’ve tweaked a few things. I didn’t like the shape of the wine bottle, added a few more highlights here and there. The whole idea with this type of impressionism is that the brush strokes are clear and bold. Your eyes will fill in the rest. I think this makes a much livelier painting than if I had meticulously smoothly brushed all of the shapes.